Sheet moving mechanism for sheet feeders



- Jan. 31, 1939. G. GEEEL ET AE 2,145,764

SHEET MOVING MECHANISM FOR SHEET FEEDERS Filed May 8, 1936 5 Sheets-Shea?I l El@ @215,2 v

*ff @MME Jan. 31, 1939. G. GOEBEL ET AL SHEET MOVING MECHANISM Foa 'SHEET FEEDER-s Filed May. 8, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 @Zarge 60e oe,

Jan. 31, 1939. G. GOEBEL ET AL SHEET MOVING MEQHANI'SMFOR SHEET FEEDERS Filed May 8, 1935. 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 um@ @b a! mw mnmNl.

Jan. 31, 1939.l G, Gol-:BEL ET AL 2,145,764

SHEET MOVING MECHANISM FOR SHEET FEEDERS Filed May 8, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Jan. 31? 1939. G. GOEBEL ET Al. ,2,145,764

v SHEET MOVING MECHANISM FOR SHEET FEEDERS Y' Filed May 8, 195e 5 sheets-sheet 5 655 ,155 w #5L 'y' l Patented Jan. 31,1939

UNITEDI STATESn PATENT ,o1-*FICE SHEET MOVING MECHANISM FOR SHEET FEEDERS o! New York Application May s, 1936, serm N0. '18,706

24 Claims.

'I'he present invention relates to sheet moving mechanisms for sheet feeders, being an improve,- ment upon the corresponding structure shown in our application for Sheet feeder, Serial No.

5 25,908, filed June 10, 1935.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a sheet moving mechanism of such design that individual sheets of paper, metal, or the like -handled by the sheet feeder will be properly separated from a stack of sheets and forwarded through the feeder to a press or other apparatus for performing an operation thereon.

' Another object of the invention, ancillary to the above, is to provide a sheet separator or rear 15 cup operating mechanism which will efficiently separate sheets from the sheet stack and simultaneously cause the sheets to be properly positioned with respect to the forwarder mechanism or front cups.

In the handlingof a stack of sheets, in order to separate the uppermost sheet from the next lowest sheet, it is desirable to bend the rear portion of the uppermost sheet upwardly, and suction cups are ordinarily used for this purpose. By the action of the separators usedin most types of sheet feeders, the rear portionof the `sheet is bent upwardly along 9. line extending crosswise of the sheet. In handling some materials, particularly thin sheets of metal, when the rear suction cupsl act to4 bend the sheet on a line extending transversely thereof, the sheet frequently has a tendency to buckle along a line at right Aangles to its rear edge, resisting the efforts of the suction cups to bend its rear portion.

The separator mechanism of the present invention is designed to bend the rear corners of the top sheet upwardly on a diagonal bending line, instead of bending the entire rear portion on a transverseline. Obviously, the corners can be bent much more readilythan the entire rear portion, since the buckling tendency of thev sheetv referred l to abovel will not, be encountered.

Separator ymechanisrl-oftheV type now cus'- if "tomarily'zwusedarenalso;objectionable, for the i inabeinding ftherrar ,portion-@L sheetl upwardly, whetherf` ,bending the entire rear 'v :merelythe rearf.cornersf,the; suctionl theshest rearwardlyqand awayf- :f .k.- au? Plat' and, 'ferwafdereuttioacuns `or-ssparat0r Y. eers.backwardladuringathef bending or ,separat :1s-...movement results .from-the l1.1

fact that the sheet engagingzelement-orcupnmustg.; table," the ,most efcient rir'ivement ,for this pur- 1 reason .t

be pivoted to its support at a point spaced above the uppermost sheet of the stack. When the suction cups swing upwardly on this pivot point, the sheet is dragged upwardly and backwardly, (in effect, around the pivot point) and is thereby moved away from the stack vgauge plate. Such movement of the top sheet will Jbe transmitted 5 to a number of sheets immediately below, until the upper portion of the stack may, by continued backward dragging action, be positioned so far backwardly from the stack gauge plate that the Afront suction cups or forwarder mechanism will not be able to contact with the front portion of the uppermost sheet, thereby temporarily stopping feeding of the sheets through the machine, Also, since the backward dragging of uppermost sheets may not be transmitted equally over the entire area of the sheets, the entire upper portion of the stack may become slightly twisted, so that the front edges of the sheets will be fed through the machine on an angle.

The construction of the separator mechanism of the present invention is such that the suction cup or sheet engaging element will have what may be best generally described as a forward movement with respect to the remainder of the elements of the separator mechanism, the engaging element having a definite tendency to move inwardly or forwardly with respect to its pivot point as it moves upwardly to bend the sheet. This arrangement entirely prevents the sheet from being dragged backwardly; in fact, a` definite force will be applied to the sheet to hold it forwardly against the stack 'gauge plate.

Another object of the invention is to provide a separator mechanism which is readily adjustable to operate upon sheets of various dimensions.

The construction of lthe separator mechanismofthe present invention is such that the sheet engaging elements will belongitudinally and also laterally adjustable, a minimum number of ad- ,justing operations being necessary to attain the desired range of position.

Another object of the invention is to provide4 a forwarder mechanism which willr be positive in actionttowardemoving asheet from the stack when ther rear corners of the `sheet are released from the suction ofthe rear suction cupsorsepa- -rators, Aand which forwarding mechanism is of such design that there willbe minimum'wear upon its moving parts.

The forwarder -mechanism .ofj avssheetfeederl must lift the uppermo'stsheet from the stackv and then Vcarry it forwardnto position it upon the feed pose being an initial upward movement to liftl the sheet, and a relatively long horizontal move-v ment to carry the sheet to a point above the feed table where it may be released. It is necessary that on the reverse movement, that is, the movement during which the forwarder is moving toward the stack to engage a sheet, it should be moved by a means having some degree of resiliency, because the height of the top of the stack may vary and if the forwarder were positively moved down upon the stack when the latter is higher than usual, breakage of the forwarder might result.

To meet the requirements set forth above, fairly complicated cam and trip mechanisms have been used to operate the forwarder, but the most eicient form of operating mechanism may be generally described as comprising a cam to positively move the forwarder andlifted sheet away from the stack, and a spring to move the forwarder toward the stack. However, with such an arrangement, the cam, in its positive driving action, has heretofore operated against a relatively strong spring, thereby increasing the load upon the driving motor of the machine, and also resulting in heavy wear upon the moving elements of the forwarder.

The construction'of forwarder mechanism provided by the present invention is such that only a relatively light spring need be provided to obtain the resilient drive desirable when the forwarder is approaching the stack, the cam following device which is provided to transmit the movement of the cam `to the forwarder being of such form that it will, in effect, embrace the cam at all times, but with the elements of the embracing or following mechanism being resiliently connected.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional View through a sheet feeder showing the sheet moving mechanisms of our invention; the central portion of the view being taken on the line A A of Figure 2;

vFigure 2 is a horizontal sectional view showing the rear cup mechanisms .in top plan view, the front cup mechanisms being omitted fromrthis` view; g

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view similar to Figure 3 and showing a rear cup in raised position;

Figure 5 is va vertical sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 6 6 of Figure 3; V

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view showing the forwarder mechanism;

Figure 8 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 8 8 of Figure 7;

' Figure 9 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 9 9 of Figure 7;

`Figure 10 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line I0 I0 of Figure 7; and

Figure 11 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line H H of Figure 7.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 8.5 designates a longitudinal beam included in the upperA portion of the frame of a sheet feeder of the type shown in our application for Sheet feeder, Serial No. 25,908, filed June 10, 1935. 'I'he numeral 56 designates the main cam shaft of the machine, which is rotated by a driving mechanism fully described in the above mentioned application, and which driving mechanism forms no part of the present invention. The cam shaft 56 has xed thereto a cam 60| for controlling the movement of the forwarder mechanism 602 of the present invention and, through gearing best shown in Figure 2, operates a cam 603 which controlsthe movement of the sheet separator mechanism generally indicated by the vnumeral 604. As best shown in Figure 2, the sheet separator mechanism comprises two separator elements 605, each supported from a casing H4 which, at its 'forward end (the right-hand end in Figures 1,

eled gear H7 fixed to the end of a shaft H8 extending longitudinally of the casing H4, shaft H8 being mounted in bearings provided intermediate the'length of casing I I4.

The separator operating cam 603 is dish-shaped and is secured to the rear end of the shaft II8,

the eifective cam surface of the cam being its periphery B06. Cam 603 is arranged to engage rollers 601 mounted on the lower ends of levers 608 journaled on pins 600 fixed in each-side wall of the casing I I4, with the result that the levers 608 will be swung by rotation of the cam. The upper ends of the levers 600 extend through the upper wall of the casing I I4 and each lever has a rod 6I0 pivotally connected thereto by a universal joint connection 6H comprising a vertically swinging knuckle 6I2 pivotally connected to the upper end of the lever and pivoted to a horizontally swinging knuckle 6| 3 forming part of the rod 6I0. The opposite or rearward endy of each rod 6I0 is pivotally connected as at 5I4 to the outer and upper member 6I5 of a two-piece suction cup supporting device 6I6, the other member 6II of each element 6I6 being pivotally con-4 a iiat lowersurface 623, which surface may bear` upon the surface 622 when the suction cup is in its lowermost position shown in solid lines in Figure 3. The upper member 6I5 is joined 'to the lower member 6H by pairs of parallel links 624, with the result that the upper member lll may move to the right, upon lifting movement of the link 6I0, from they position shown in solid lines in Figure 3 to the position shown in dotted lines in that figure and also shown in solid lines in Figure 4. 'I'he movement of member SI5 with respect to member SI1 will be accomplished by a swinging or translational movement upon the links 624. Such movement of the upper member 6I5 with respect to the member 6H will be lresisted to some extent by an expansion/spring 625 positioned between the rear or left-hand end -of the inner and lower member 6I'l and a vertical face 626 on the outer and upper member 6I6,v the spring being centered and heid in position uponprojection 621.

'Each outer and upper member 6|5 has a suction cup |32 mounted thereon, which suction cup n is connected by a flexible tube |35 with a suc- .n sizes.

tion pump, not shown.

`The suction cups |32 are arranged to be adjustable overa wide area in order to permit the mechanism to operate upon sheets of various This adjustability is attained by reason of thefact that, as shown in Figure 3, the connecting rod 6|0 is telescopic, the outer or sleeve element of the rod being split at its free end and provided with a set screw 630 to permit the two sections of the rod to be held in adjusted position. The bracket 6|9 which supports each suction cup supporting device 6I6 with respect to its hanger 620 is provided with a pair of vertically spaced rods 632 slidable in sleeves 633 mounted in semi-'cylindrical grooves 634 and 635 respectively provided in the hanger 620 and a clamping membe-r 636. The rods 632 are provided with heads 631 at their outer ends which are adapted to contact with shoulders 638 formed in the interior of the tubes 633 when the bracket 6|9 is drawn outwardly for adjustment as shown in Figure 1. Further outward movement of the brackets will cause the ,tubes 633 to slide with respect to the hanger-620 and clamping member 636, this movement being limited by shoulders on the outer ends of the tubesl and indicated by the numeral 639. The brackets 6|9 will be held in the desired adjusted position with respect to the hangers 620 by means o-f a bolt member 640 threaded in a nut 64| (Figure 5) carried in the outer face of clamping member 636, the bolt 640 extending through hanger 620 and being provided with a large knurled thumb Wheel 642.

In order to permit the hangers 620 to be swung on their pivots 62| by a simultaneous action, links 644 are pivoted to the inner faces of the hangers. the adjacent ends ofthe links being respectively arranged above and below and in overlapping position with respect to a rearward extension 645 of the housing ||4 and in alignment with a slot 646 in the extension. A bolt and nut indicated by the numeral 641 and best shown in Figure 1 is provided in the slot 646 and extends through the links 644 to hold the latter in `adjusted position with respect to the extension. Washers 648 having squared faces to t the slot are provided between each surface of the slot and the corresponding link to guide the bolt in the slot. By this arrangement, when the bolt and nut are unthreaded with respect to each other and the bolt is slid in the slot 646,

the hangers 620 carrying the suction cups\will be simultaneously swung upon their pivots 62|, thereby varying the angle of the elements of the separator mechanism withrespect to each other.

The operation ofthe separator mechanism is as followsr- When the cam 603 rotates to present its low portions to the rollers 1 o f the levers 606,`these levers will move to the position shown in solid n lines invFigure 3, permitting the suction cups |32 to drop upon the top sheet of the stack. {mmek'dia'.tely thereafter, suction will be exerted within the suction cups |32 so that when the high portions of the cam 603 come in contact with the rollers 601 to lift the suction cups, the rear corners of ,the sheet will be bent upwardly in the y manner shown in Figures 1 and 4 and in dotted fglines in Figure 3.

,The pull exerted through the rod 6|0 upon vthe upper member SI5 of the cupi supporting 6|5, and-thereby the member 6|1, and will also ytend to swing the member 6|5 upwardly and forwardly (to the right) upon the links 624 with respect to the member 6H. The eiect of this swinging or translational movement of the member 6|5 with respect to the member 6|1 is best illustrated by a comparison of the line A of Figure 4 with respect to the line B. That is to say, the line A indicates the path of travel which would be followed on its lifting movement by the center line of the suction cup |32 if this cup were carried by a rigid element pivoted to the bracket 6|9 at the pivot point 6|8, this line of movement corresponding to an arc drawn upwardly from the point a on a radius a. centered at the axis of pivot 6|8. Since the pivot point 6|8 is spaced above the uppermost sheets of the stack, it naturally follows that if a cup moves4 upwardly along the line A, it moves outwardly from the stack gauge plate 6| (Figure l), resulting in the sheets being moved rearwardly and away from the stack gauge plate and the fingers 62 forming theupper portion of this plate. The line A followed by the rear edge of a sheet lifted in such manner clearly indicates the rearward 'm-ovement. As has heretofore been set forth in detail, any action tending to drag the uppermost sheet rearwardly away from the stack gauge plate 6| causes the next lowest sheets to be tended in the same direction and such action, repeated upon successive uppermost sheets, tends to cause all of the sheets of the upper portion of the stack to be moved rearwardly to an increasing extent until it is possible that the uppermost sheet may be positioned rearwardly o-f the suction cups of the forwarder mechanism 602. Another common difficulty resulting from the tendency of the separator to move the sheets rearwardly is that the sheets may be turned upon the stack in the manner indicated by the dotted line C of Figure 2, due to the fact that the backward dragging motion may not be equally transmitted between the sheets. If the sheets arein a turned or canted position'when engaged by the forwarder, they will not be properly positioned while passing through the remaining mechanisms of the feeder, for example, the calipering mecha- Vnism, and dimculties may thereby result.

The line B of Figure4 indicates the path of movement of the center line of a suction cup |32 when the latter is raised by the supporting element 6|6 of the present invention. From this line, it will be noted that the'cup moves upwardly in a substantially'straight line because member 6|5 moves inwardly and upwardly over member The forwarder mechanism n Two of the forwarders 602 are ordinarily provided upon a feeder, one adjacent each side of the stack 5|. Since the construction of the two forwarders is identical, the following description In actual practice, it is found that theFY of the detailed construction of onel will apply to both.

Each forwarder is supported from a transverse beam 86 of the machine, as shown in Figures 1 and 7, the supporting frame |50 of the forwarder being rigid with the beam. The supporting frame |50 is in the form of a bar or beam extending in a direction lengthwise of the machine and 1l to form a track-way. A plate |53 is bolted to each side of the bar |50 adjacent the rear end thereof (the left hand end as viewed in Figures l, 7y andJ 10), these two plates being curved out- -wardly from the bar |50 as shown in Figure 11 andthence extending downwardly past the rods l| 52. 'I'he lower ends of the plates |53 are angled toward each other and each plate has fixed thereto an upwardly facing cam track best shown in Figures 1 and 7. A plate |55 is xed to each side of the bar or beam |50 adjacent its forward end (right-hand end in Figures 1, 7 and 10), these plates extendjlg downwardly to a. point somewhat below the rear plates |53 and serving to support between them a pin |55 for a purpose hereinafter set forth.

A forwarder carriage |51 is slidable upon the trackway formed by the rods |52, the carriage having bores extending therethrough to embrac the rods. From the forward end of the carriage E51, the right hand end of Figures l, 7 and 10,

there extends a link |58 which is pivotally connected to the upper portion of the carriage |51 by means of a pin |59 journaled in the carriage. The link |58 preferably includes a turn-buckle device, as shown,'to permit its length and thereby the movement of the carriage |51 to be adjusted. The forward end of the link, at the right-hand end in the drawings, is pivotally connected to a lever 652 mounted to swing on the pin- |55 extending between the lower ends of the front plates |55. At a point adjacent its lower end, the lever 552 carries a roller 653 arranged opposite the cam 60| on the main camshaft 55.

'I'he plates |55 are each provided with integral rearward extensions 654 which have a pin 555 extending between them at their rearward ends and to the rear and below the main cam shaft 55. A lever 655 is mounted on the pivot pin 555 between the extensions 554, the lever being provided with a roller 551 adaptedto contact with the cam 60|, and the u`pper end of lever 556 being pivotally connected, as at 658 to a. hori- -zontally extending yoke or connecting member 650 which extends about and forwardly-past the lever 552.-A A pin 650 extends through vthe two bars forming the lever 552 and into a horizontally extending slot 55| formed in each arm of the yoke 559. A headed guide member or rod 552 has its head 563 ixed to the pin 650, the end of the guide member 662 extending through an aperture in the bight 654 of the yoke 659. An expansion spring 555 encircles the guide member 662, one end of the spring bearing on the inner side of the' bight 554 and the opposite end bearing on the head 553 of the guide member 662. By this arrangement, the spring 565, because of its bearing on the lever 552, tends to pull the yoke 659 forwardly or to the right, with the result thatthe roller 651 will be heldr in contact with the cam 60| and the lever 556 will be held substantially parallel to the lever 552, providing a cam following frame about the cam 50|, which following frame has some degree of resiliency with respect to the cam by reason of the spring connection between levers 652 and 556.

A suction cup or sheet engaging element |12 fixed to the lower end of a rod |13 is supported upon links |14 and |15 pivotally connected to the rear end of the carriage |51. Link |15 is pivoted on a pin extending between trunnions |16 on the extreme upper portion of the rear end of the carriage and is pivotally connected to the upper end of they cup carrying rod |13. Two links |14 are pivotally connected to the lower rear portion of the carriage, one on either side thereof and both extending inwardly to be pivotally connected to the cup supporting rod |13 intermediately the length of the latter. The links |14 and link |15 are of equal length and the distances between the axes of their pivots upon both the carriage and the cup supporting rod |13 are the same, with the result that the links will always be parallel. The lower links |14 have rollers 11 journaled on their outer sides and these rollers are adapted to move along the members oi` cam track |54 when the car- I nected by tubing |54 with a suitable valve mechanism whereby the suction within the cup may be controlled. As is described in our sheet feeder application hereinbefore referred to, the valve mechanism is so operated that suction will be exerted by the cup |12 vwhen it contacts with the surface of the uppermost sheets of the stack, this suction becoming effective immediately prior to the release of the suction in the suction cups of separator mechanism 504.

The operation of each forwarder mechanism 502 is as followsl As the high portion 60|a. of' cam 50i on main cam shaft 56 moves in a counter-clockwise direction from the position shown in Figure 7 to that shown in Figure 1, the lever 65,2 and carriage |51 will be moved to the left until 'the' Figure 1 position is reached. This movement of the lever 652 and carriage |51 will be accomplished by reason of the fact that as the high portion 60|a ofthe cam moves from beneath the roller 553 on lever 652, it will move beneath the roller 651 on the lever 556, forcing the latter lever to swing to the left and thereby exerting a. pull, through spring 665, upon the lever 652, the spring providing a certain degree of resiliency between the cam and the carriage so that should the rearward motion of the carriage be impeded, the result will merely be a further compression of the spring 665.

During the initial portion of the movement of the carriage |51 referred to above, the suction -cup |12 will move at the height shown in solid and high portion |80 of cam track |54. However,

when the rollers |11 reach the inclined portion |19 oi the cam track, the cup carrying rod 13 will drop vertically and in a straight line until the roller reaches the low portion |18 of the track. Should the top of the stack be at such a level that the cup cannot move to the lowest position permitted by the cam track, the spring 665 will take up the movement which wouldotherwise be imparted to the cup rod |13 and the carriage |51 by the cam 60|.

When the suction cup |12 of a forwarder contacts with the lupper sheet of the stack, the valve mechanism of the sheet feeder will cause suction Ato be exerted within the cup and immediately thereafter will'cause the interior of the separator suction cups |32 to be placed in communication with the atmosphere so that the rear corners of the upper sheet will be released from thelatter cups. The continuing rotation ofthe forwarder cam 60| yin a counter-clockwise direction will cause the high portion 60Hz of the cam to move away from the roller 651I on lever 656 and to move beneath the roller 653 .on lever 652, causing lever 652 to move from the position illustrated in Figure 1 tothe position shown in solid lines in Figure 7, Lever 652 will of course bel swung to the right during this movement and lever 656 will be drawn to the right because of the Apull exerted by lever 652' on yoke 659 through spring 665.

The above described movement of lever 652 to the right will cause the carriage |51 of each forwarder to be moved from the dotted line position shown in Figure '1 to the solid line position and during the initial portion of this movement, rollers |11 will move upwardly on the inclined portion ofV cam track |54, the horizontal movement of the carriage and the upward movement of the links |14 and |15 causing the suction cup |12 to move upwardly in a straight line. When the rollers |11 reach the straight portion |80 of the cam track |54, the cup will move in a horizontal directionjto position the sheet between the feed rollers 64 and 66 of the feed table 65, the suction in the feed cups |12y being released by thevalve mechanism when the sheet has been positioned between the sheet rollers.

It, win be obvius' that the sheethandnng.

mechanisms described above may be lused with sheet feeders other than that disclosed in our above-mentioned application, Serial No. 25,908.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details of construction shown in the drawings and that the example of the use of the mechanism which has been given does not include all of the uses of which it is capable and that the phraseology employed in the specificatiofn is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. f

We claimz-` l 1. 'I'he combination in a sheet feeder, of a stack gauge plate, sheet separator means, sheet forwarder means, means to operate' said separator means to move the rearedge of a sheet away from the stack and urge the sheet against said gauge plate and toward said forwarder means, and

means to operate said forwarder means to move the separated sheet past said gauge plate.

2. The combination in a sheet feeder including a frame, of a stack gauge plate, sheet separator means, sheet forwarder means, said separator means being connected to the frame for pivotal l and translationall movement with respect thereto,

rator means to move the rear edge of a sheet 'a frame, of a stack gauge plate, sheet separator means, sheet forwarder means, a support for said separator means positioned above the stack within the bounding edges of the same, said separator means being connected to said support for pivotal and translational movement with respect thereto, to urge sheets toward said gauge plate and forwarder means during sheet separating' movement, and means to operate said forwarder means to move a sheet past said gauge plate.

5. A sheet separator mechanism for a sheet feeder including sheet stack supporting means, comprising a support mounted on the body of the feeder above the stack and within the bounding edges of the same, sheet separating elements extending from said support diagonally toward the rear corners of the sheet stack, and means to move said elements upwardly to lift the rear corners of the uppermost sheet of the stack and gaged thereby and to release said separator so that it may move down upon a sheet by gravity.

7. The combination in a sheet feeder including a` sheet stack, of a supporting element positioned above the stack and within the bounding edges of the same, sheet engaging and bending means, said means being pivotally and bodily movable with respect to said supporting element, and means to move said sheet engaging means with respect to the stack.

8. The combination in a sheet feeder including a frame, of sheet engaging means, an element pivotally connecting said sheet engaging means to said frame, said element being formed of two v'members arranged for longitudinal and contractile movement with respect to each other.

9. The combination in la sheet feeder including aframe, of sheet engaging means, an element pivotally connecting-said sheet engaging means tosaid frame, said element being formed of two members arranged for longitudinal and contractile movement with respect toeach other, and means tending to hold said members in non-contracted position. f

10. The combination in a sheet feeder including a frame, of sheet engaging means, an element pivotally connecting said sheet engaging means to said frame, said element being formed of two members, one arranged for inward movement longitudinally along the other.

11. The combination in a'sheet feeder including a frame, of sheet engaging means, an element pivotally connecting said sheet engaging means to said frame, said element being formed of two members, one arranged for inward movement longitudinally along the other, and means tending to hold said membersapart.

12. The combination in a sheet feeder, of sheet separating means, comprising a frame, a member pivotally connected to said frame, a sheet engaging element connected to said vmember for translational movement with respect thereto, and actuating means operatively connected to said sheet engaging element to move the latter with respect to said member and move said member with respect-to said frame.

13. The combination in a sheet feeder, of sheet separating means comprising a frame,.a member pivotally connected to said frame, a sheet engaging element connected to said member for pivotal and body movement with respect thereto, and actuating means operatively connected to said sheet engaging element to move the latter with respect to said member and move said member with respect to said frame.

14. A sheet separator mechanism for a sheet feeder, comprising a separator supporting element mounted on the body ofthe feeder,a sheet engaging member, and atelescopic adjustable connection between said member and the frame, the elements of said connection normally being rigid with respect to each other.

15. A sheet separator mechanism for 'a sheet feeder, comprising a separator supporting element mounted on the body of the feeder, a sheet engaging member, operating means for said engaging member, and an adjustably extensible connection between said member and said operating means, the elements o f said connection normally being rigid with respect to each other.

16. A sheet separator mechanism for a sheet feeder, comprising a separator supporting element mounted on thevbody of the feeder, a sheet engaging member, operating means for said engaging. member, and an adjustably extensible connection between said member and said operating means, the elements of said connection normally being rigid with respect to each other, said `,sheet engaging member being telescopically connected to said element.

17. A sheet separator mechanism for a sheet feeder including sheet stack supporting means, comprising a separator suporting element, a pair 'of sheet engaging members each extending from said frame toward the diagonal corners of the sheet stack, said members being pivotally connected to said supporting element for horizontal swinging movement, and means to simultaneously move said members with respect to saidvsupporting element.

18. A sheet separator mechanism for a sheet feeder including sheet stack supporting means. comprising a separator supporting element, telescopic sheet engaging members extending diagonallyfrom said supporting element and pivotally connected to the latter to swing in a horizontal plane, said sheet engaging members being pivoted within their length for vertical swinging movement, operating means, a telescopic connection between said operating means andsaid engaging members, and means to simultaneously swingl said engaging members in a horizontal plane.

19. The combination in a sheet feeder, of a forwarder mechanism to engage and remove sheets from the sheet stauck -oi'Y the feeder, comprising a trackway rand cam track xed to the lframe ofthe feeder, a cania'ge movable on said trackway, a sheet engaging-member, a air oi' parallel and vertically spaced links pivotally icon-- necting said carriage and said member, means on one of said links to engage said cam track to cause said member to be moved vertically when vsaid carriage is moved horizontally, and means Warder mechanism to engage'and remove sheets from the sheetstack of the feeder, comprising a trackway fixed to the frame of the feeder, a carriage movable on said trackway, a sheet engaging member operatively connected to said carriage, an operating cam, a lever pivotally connected between the frame of the'feeder and said carriage and actuated by said cam to reciprocate said carriage for sheet engaging and sheet removing movements, said lever being resiliently connected to said cam on its sheet engaging drive movement.

22. The combination in a sheet feeder, of a forwarder mechanism to engage and remove sheets from the sheet stack ofthe feeder, comprising a trackway xed to the frame of the feeder, a carriage movable on said trackway, a sheet en- I gaging member operatively connected to said cartact with both to move them simultaneously to thereby control the movements of said carriage.

23. The combination in a sheet feeder, of a stack4 gauge plate, sheet separator means, a` support for said separator means, said separatorl means being connected to said support for pivotal movement with respect thereto to have inward bodily movement with respect to said stack gauge plate, and means to operate said separator means. to swing the same with respect to said support and to move it bodily toward said gauge plate so as to urge a sheet engaged by said separator means toward said gauge plate. l

24. 'I'he combination in a sheet feeder, of a stack gauge plate, sheet separator means, sheet forwarder means, da support for said separator means,.said separator means being connected to said support for pivotal movement with respect thereto and to have inward bodily movement with 

